How the strait of Juan de Fuca got its name
Posted: Monday, January 26, 2009
by GinnyAA
Many, many years ago, after the discovery of the North and South American continents, ships from set sail to the "" in search of what the new, untrodden land might have to offer. This is the story of just one of those voyages.
The year: 1592. The ship: the Alicanto. It should have borne the name ), but the ship's on-board sign painter had a lot of problems with spelling. After much debate, the Captain decided to leave the name because one of his crewmembers had a degree in "rare birdithology" and he told him the mythical bird Alicanto dined on silver and gold. Also, its diet caused the wings to glow, which might possibly scare off any unearthly ghost ships in the area (e.g. "The Flying Dutchman").
:o)[I n 1790 his 3 rd generation nephew founded a port in and named it in honor of him, Axon Valdez.]
The ship was a newly built three-masted, square-rigged vessel with a triangular sail on the mizzenmast, and purchased through the Christopher Columbus Shipping Line. (After his voyage of discovery, Chris went into the shipbuilding and cruise line business.)
The Alicanto sailed from a port in and headed directly to the gold fields of western South America-well, not directly, renovations to the Panama Canal forced them to sail around the bottom of The crewmembers included Juan and Pedro de Fuca. The brothers came along on the trip to escape the high tax rate they paid on their Spanish rice farm. (Spanish rice is an offshoot of Chinese fried rice, but with a sunburn.)
Pedro's talent for cooking got him assigned to the galley as a cook, but Juan had the unenviable job of tending to the figurehead, the crow's nest and the masthead. He constantly cleaned the Alicanto's eyes; waterproofed, repainted and polished the masthead so it would shine in the light (sun or moon), and act as a beacon to other ships. Few other ships roamed the area due to Toledo's ( not Ohio, but Francisco de's) restrictive governmental control over canoe travel up and down the coast. Nevertheless, Juan had his orders, so he polished and shined on.
While rounding the southern tip of South America, the ship sustained heavy damage by gale force winds but managed to stay afloat until reaching the Port of Lima. They dropped anchor and waited for Toledo (again, not Ohio ) to grant permission for them to beach the ship and proceed with repairs.
One bright moonlit night while waiting, Juan looked skyward from his post in the crow's nest. He saw a dark shadow sweeping over the face of the moon (lunar eclipse). Frightened by the sight, he began shouting, "The devil has taken our moon, he'll take all of us very soon; abandon the ship before his next trip, jump over the side and swim with the tide." (Juan could only speak in rhyme. His mother owned just one book while pregnant with him-a book of verse. Later, she got a recipe book while carrying Pedro.)
While swimming toward shore, Juan and Pedro ran, head first, into a longboat. They never saw it because of the darkness, but as the moonlight slowly returned they could see a British flag waving from the stern. After hauling them in the boat, Juan questioned the boats presence in the area. It seemed the British used the eclipse to stage a raid on the port and relieve the Spanish of their charts and treasure.
The first mate of the longboat said they came from the privateering ship Peacock. As Juan and Pedro swished and squished around, trying not to get hit by the oarsmen's back and forth motion, the first mate informed them of their new titles, "official British brigands."
After they reached the deck of the ship, Captain Quill explained how the ship's crew diminished greatly due to numerous raids on Spanish ships and ports; consequently, willingly or not, they became members of the crew. Pedro inquired if their return voyage to would be by the southerly route. But to his disappointment, the voyage would continue north in search of the presumed northern route back to the Atlantic. After a year at sea, Juan and Pedro wanted to return home, but-.
The captain assigned both to the same jobs they'd had on the Alicanto, with the exception of Juan's figurehead duty. The Peacock had no figurehead due to a need for speed in raiding and escaping.
On the voyage north, Juan complained incessantly about being stranded in the crow's nest hour after hour, day after day. Apparently, none of the remaining British crew could tolerate heights; consequently, Juan's duty as lookout included both day and night. Pedro would climb to the closest yard arm near the masthead with Juan's food, but Juan remained in the nest.
This went on for another six months before Juan finally spotted land. Excitedly he shouted, "Land, land, trees and sand." He waved his arms so hard he lost his footing and fell into the rigging. When the captain shouted for him to point to it, Juan, tangled head to foot in the ropes, couldn't point to anything.
Instead, he yelled, "East, east, the beast is east." (Of course he meant land, but, in his predicament, his thought patterns became altered.) This explanation scared the captain so he turned the ship toward the west and open sea.
Juan, desperately needing to escape his situation whenever the ship dropped anchor, frantically shouted, "The sea serpent's nest is to the west." Immediately, the captain ordered the ship to turn south, which would take them back the way they came.
Juan, still dangling, screamed, "The serpent's mouth is opening to the south!" Quickly adding, "The beast is done with his feast, so turn toward the east." With that, the ship turned east and headed to shore.
After things settled down on board, Pedro came up from the galley with one of his carving knives and cut Juan out of the rigging. While treating his rope burns, Juan and Pedro agreed the captain was a nut and they wanted off the ship. Besides the navigational incident, the captain constantly harped about who stole the feather from his pen. Pedro already offered the captain an albatross feather (earlier in the week the ship sideswiped the bird and they used it for bird stew), but the captain refused. Declaring the bird's death accidental, he asserted that using the feather would surely bring misfortune.
Under the stressful conditions of this latest venture, the captain released his anger by formally accusing the boys of theft. Positive of the their responsibility, he told them, "I think that together you both stole the feather and so you shall pay in a terrible way." (Do you suppose Quill's mother owned a book of verse too?). He promised that, after reaching shore, they'd both be severely dealt with.
The ship anchored off Cape Beale in the Pacific Rim National Park (no crowds at all that day), and the crew disembarked for a look see. Juan and Pedro stayed on board until the captain found a suitable tree for the trial.
While waiting, the boys came up with a plan-they would wait until nightfall, creep into the dinghy and head south. (They thought about going north, but the weather turned very cold and neither of them packed long underwear.) They decided to navigate southward until they spotted another ship, Spanish or English-they were flexible, or, until they found any uncluttered port.
About midnight they successfully got underway. They oared their way south until they rounded a rocky point and saw an inlet. Fatigue and time overtook them, so they proceeded toward a landmass east of Neah Bay. Reaching it, they disembarked, found shelter and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day they surveyed their surroundings, and, to their surprise, saw more than an inlet, before them stood a wide river flowing from the east. After discussing their options, they decided that, perhaps, they had found the fabled Northwest Passage and this waterway could lead them to the Atlantic and home.
They boarded the dinghy and headed east. Much later they could see the main channel turning toward the north. Smaller channels veered south and were composed of many islands and landmasses in all directions. Fearful of the captain's reprisal if they encountered him by heading north, they decided to stay secreted by moving from island to island. They figured it would be impossible for him to find them-at least not in their lifetime.
Meanwhile, Captain Quill, furious about the escape, did regret his harsh judgment toward Pedro, mostly because no one else on board could cook. But he decided any member of the crew, with proper training (flogging), would overcome his fear and ascend the crow's nest; therefore, he retained his rage against Juan.
He figured the boys would surely have turned left at Neah Bay, but when they reached the Y in the strait, and saw the many islands, he decided he couldn't ferret them out. Instead, he'd leave a warning about the thieving Juan for all sailors that followed. He made the crew impale a giant mast and sail midway across the mouth of the channel. It had a skull and crossbones, an arrow pointing east, and the words: Strait of Juan de Fuca-his shipboard artist's brother painted the name Alicanto. The captain meant to say, Straight to Juan de Fuca!
Now you know.
1 Few actual facts seem to be known about Juan de Fuca. Here are a few that agree. He was a Greek named Apostolo Valeriano; he was born and died Cephalo, Greece. He was commissioned by Spain to sail up the western side of the South American continent in search of the Northwest Passage. In 1592 his exploration took him to 48 degrees north latitude, which he recorded in his diary. Not many believed him and his journey became subject to myth and debate. Finally accepted in 1792 when Capt. George Vancouver retraced Juan's route. More factual info at angelfire.com
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